Anything wrong with cooled seats?

[fionic]

That being said, you can't really tell if its 70+ it doesn't keep up with your body heat very well.

exactly. I run hot. My ass & back would sweat ridiculously without the cooled seats.

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[blitzburgh]

I sometimes use heated seats in 60's weather. If I'm driving around with the windows down, I'll usually put the seat heater on low just to keep my core warm and not have to roll the windows up or put heat on.

Ok troll.

 

[lltrigg3rzonell]

It cools the bottom part of the seat almost instantly. I notice that the lower back somewhat works but not as well as the bottom part of the seat.

 

[opensesame]

Cooled seats work great for me, however it kinda feels like my seat is "wet". Anyone experience this as well?

 

[CriticalmassGT]

The cooled seat bottoms are not driven by a fan. They are a thermal exchanger element (I'm forgetting its name) and are only in the seat bottoms, there are no fans blowing air there and there is no vents from the HVAC blowing air there.

As for operation in mine it takes them a couple of minutes before you notice them. It does get cool but it would be nice if there was another element in the setback to cool your lower back as well. The way it works though might be counterproductive in the seat back. The front side would get cool but the back side would get hot. Someone who knows the name of this process could chime in. I will look it up.

Fan blowing on your ass, now that would be funny. And oh so many things could go wrong with that.

 

[CriticalmassGT]

I believe some are defective, including mine, They used to work great, Like other reported would have to turn it down after a couple of minutes because it would get so cold.

Now it barely keeps up with body heat, There is definitely a fan, you can look under the seat, it has a mesh cover.

I have a feeling all I'm feeling now is the fan and the cooling element went bad.

If it is a peltier element, dust accumulation would kill the impact of the cooling. Also, Peltier devices can only exchange so much heat for cold, if they become heat-soaked on one side, they stop working on the other (cooling) side.

As another poster mentioned, running your A/C toward your feet works great because it's adding additional cooling on the hot side of the element to aid the fan. Also, if you have anything blocking airflow under the seat, that's going to cause it to not work as well.

Peltier elements work great up to a certain point. Once the hot-side becomes too hot, both sides can end up turning hot instead of one hot and one cool.

 

[CriticalmassGT]

Cooled seats work great for me, however it kinda feels like my seat is "wet". Anyone experience this as well?

Peltier devices can accumulate condensate. Run the A/C to dehumidify the air. Everyone knows that running the A/C dehumidifies the air whether it is set on cold or hot, right? Recirc or MAX A/C helps with this so the A/C doesn't have to fight with the humidity outside the cabin as well. If you are pulling in outside air that is humid, it won't dehumidify as well.

 

[Nexion]

If it is a peltier element, dust accumulation would kill the impact of the cooling. Also, Peltier devices can only exchange so much heat for cold, if they become heat-soaked on one side, they stop working on the other (cooling) side.

As another poster mentioned, running your A/C toward your feet works great because it's adding additional cooling on the hot side of the element to aid the fan. Also, if you have anything blocking airflow under the seat, that's going to cause it to not work as well.

Peltier elements work great up to a certain point. Once the hot-side becomes too hot, both sides can end up turning hot instead of one hot and one cool.

I doubt there would be much dust accumulation, car has been kept very clean, but I'll spray it with air when I can.

I posted about this a while back and stated I noticed a distinct clicking when i turn on the A/C seats, that's when I started losing cooling ability, someone else stated it was normal tho.

The clicking comes from the passenger side, sounds like its in the D/S Tunnel, in the middle of footwell/passenger seat, if that makes any sense.

 

[CriticalmassGT]

I doubt there would be much dust accumulation, car has been kept very clean, but I'll spray it with air when I can.

I posted about this a while back and stated I noticed a distinct clicking when i turn on the A/C seats, that's when I started losing cooling ability, someone else stated it was normal tho.

The clicking comes from the passenger side, sounds like its in the D/S Tunnel, in the middle of footwell/passenger seat, if that makes any sense.

It could be a vent not opening. In my 2009 Focus there were vents for the back-seat passengers that ran under the seats - They were tied with the footwell vents. They may have something similar for the peltier element to help keep it cool, if the solenoid is not opening the vent, that could explain the issue.

 

[pctek]

Page 113 of the owners manual. It does not indicate cooling for teh back, just the seat pan.

 

[foghat]

Page 113 of the owners manual. It does not indicate cooling for teh back, just the seat pan.

Whether or not there is actually an element in the seat back, I don't know. But I definitely feel it in my lower back. It would be a stretch to say I feel it any higher than lower back.

 

[Burningcoals]

There is no cooling element in the seats, pipe dream folks. I have seen the parts break down.

In addition you can't have a peltier without a moisture drainage system, and there is no heat/peltier single unit device.

It's just a fan folks. Otherwise you would all have moldy under seats as it would be impossible to not have moisture build up.

 

[stoli]

Cooled seats work great for me, however it kinda feels like my seat is "wet". Anyone experience this as well?

It's because that's what your brain expects to be the cause if your ass is cold while the rest of you is warm. ;) I've experienced that sensation in any car with cooled seats.

 

[mikef523]

I don't think they're defective, more poorly designed. You feel them when you turn it on after a min or 2 get cool and then after say 15-20-30 min on you cannot feel it anymore. Like it cannot keep up with ambient air temp and your body heat. I think it's more just a poor design.

I think it is probably still working, but your body heat has lowered in that part, so you just don't feel it as much.

 

[Dannyho]

I think it is probably still working, but your body heat has lowered in that part, so you just don't feel it as much.

I'm not so sure. It doesn't do a very good job of keeping my lower back from getting swampy, and we're only just getting into the warm weather here. I'm not confident that it's going to do any good once we start seeing temps in the 90s or above.

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